From left to right:
(1) Bosch (made in Switzerland) 7.2v - 15(?) years old and FANTASTIC if a little under-powered. :)
(2) Halfords (made in PRC) 14.4v - 1 year old. Bought as a replacement for (1) but the torque is hardly any better and the battery life is poor, so is rarely used. :(
(3) Bosch (made in Malaysia) 14.4v - 2 days old. FANTASTIC! :)
The little 7.2v Bosch drill has served me faithfully for such a long time it owes me nothing, but last year I decided that I needed something with more power and so I got the Halfords 14.4v thing. The torque on this is hardly any better, the speed is up by possibly 50% and the battery life is actually worse! Feeling the weight of the battery pack I think that it's a big case with a small battery inside :x as a comparison the 14.4v battery from the new Bosch weighs 25% more than the Halfords one.
So far I am VERY PLEASED with the new Bosch drill :) :)
It has a two speed box, and it's torque - even in the high speed gear - is far better than the Halfords one.
It has a smart charger that can be left on and will cope with anything from 7.2v to 14.4v (auto-sensing) and so does nicely for my older drill too, and is clever enough to switch to trickle-charging when the battery is full.
It is neat, compact, has good balance and fits in tight places (It doesn't look it in the pic, but the Hf one is actually bigger and is nose-heavy) and it feels good in the hand.
I don't know about battery life yet, but I suspect it will be good.
The Halfords one will be heading for the bay of E, I think...
